Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania made the rounds on cable news Wednesday night. At each stop, he delivered the same message.
In short: Democrats refuse to fund the Department of Homeland Security and with it the Transportation Security Administration. Consequently, Democrats have failed the very people whose interests they once purported to defend.
“I’m like, ‘Why are we doing this?’ We just don’t get it,” Fetterman told NewsNation’s Chris Cuomo, as Mediaite reported.
What Democrats “don’t get,” according to Fetterman, is that their refusal to fund DHS hurts TSA agents the most. After all, Democrats once regarded those agents and others like them as the party’s base.
“I mean, these are not rich people,” the senator said of the TSA agents. “They make around $50,000 a year. That used to be, or should be, our wheelhouse. These are the kind of people that we should be fighting for. And now we’re talking about affordability, and now we’re denying them to their paychecks.”
Worse yet, Democrats have staged this partial shutdown despite any plausible objective besides creating chaos in hopes of harming Republicans.
Democrats, of course, would love to dictate how Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents do their jobs. After all, Democrats have spoken in bellicose terms about the need to defend illegal immigrants against ICE.
Last summer, however, President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” ensured ICE funding. So Democrats have no legislative path to hamstringing the agency.
“And we knew going into it that shutdown of DHS would have zero impact on forcing any kinds of changes at ICE, and that’s where we are right now,” Fetterman continued. “So what is it that we really get out of it? You know, all we’ve done is, we’ve punished TSA and other employees under DHS and made us less safe, and now creating mass chaos in our air traffic system across America.”
Indeed, the Democrats’ shutdown created staffing shortages that snarled air travel. On Monday, Trump deployed ICE agents to help bring order to some of America’s largest airports.
Meanwhile, Fetterman also spoke to Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Wednesday.
“I’m at the airport every week,” the senator said in a clip posted to the social media platform X.
“I talk to countless TSA agents. And they are all hurting, they are angry, they are frustrating, they’re exhausting, too, what they’ve been put through.
“Now, these are not wealthy people. They earn around $50,000 a year. That should be our wheelhouse. I mean, they’re union, government workers, and we refuse to give them a paycheck. You know, don’t talk about affordability if you don’t even provide them with a paycheck.”
Fetterman: TSA agents are all hurting. They’re union government workers, and now if we refuse to give them a paycheck. They’ll talk about affordability, if you don’t even provide them with a paycheck. pic.twitter.com/BcUBABpNha
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 26, 2026
In other words, Fetterman went to Cuomo and Hannity with the same message directed toward members of his own party.
Democrats, of course, have largely soured on the Pennsylvania senator.
Cuomo, for instance, presented Fetterman with polling data that showed a 108-point net swing in the senator’s approval rating with Pennsylvania Democrats, from plus-68 in 2023 to negative-40 in 2026.
Fetterman called that polling “just not accurate.”
🚨 NEW: John Fetterman shuts down Chris Cuomo on live TV after being pressed with negative polling.
“That’s just not accurate.”
“There was another poll showing I’m 50/50 with Democras, that’s a fact.”pic.twitter.com/BDzGzsGof9
— Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) March 26, 2026
Accurate polling or not, Fetterman continues to warn Democrats against using government union workers as pawns in a political game.
Time will tell whether Democrats regret not heeding his advice.
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